HAMMOND — A northwestern Indiana police officer has been indicted on fraud charges alleging that he orchestrated a ghost payrolling scheme.

Forty-two-year-old Robert Aponte faces 12 fraud charges for allegedly submitting time sheets that falsely overstated the hours the East Chicago police office worked between January 2009 and September 2011.

The Times of Munster reports that court documents state that Aponte received $3,744 as part of the alleged scheme.

East Chicago Police Chief Mark Becker says "it's never good to see a police officer's name on a federal indictment." Aponte is an 18-year veteran of the department.